I thought that one of the ideas of CIP is that you do not need 3000 l of cleaning agent to clean 3000 l vessels. If I recall correctly, I used only 6-7 l of cleaning solution (PBW and water mixture).

You have a pump. Get yourself stainless steel rotating CIP spray ball, make a simple frame (or modify BM' lid) and you are ready to go. You do not have to waste absurd amounts of water and PBW or what ever you like to use.

I use 5 l of cleaning solution to clean 50 l fermenter (this includes soaking to remove krausen). If I had a pump, I'll probably get it done with <2 l.

bruulog wrote:I thought that one of the ideas of CIP is that you do not need 3000 l of cleaning agent to clean 3000 l vessels. If I recall correctly, I used only 6-7 l of cleaning solution (PBW and water mixture).

You have a pump. Get yourself stainless steel rotating CIP spray ball, make a simple frame (or modify BM' lid) and you are ready to go. You do not have to waste absurd amounts of water and PBW or what ever you like to use.

I use 5 l of cleaning solution to clean 50 l fermenter (this includes soaking to remove krausen). If I had a pump, I'll probably get it done with <2 l.

cpa4ny has all he needs to build it except the CIP ball and pipe (make it adjustable). You can buy those balls from e-bay for 1/3 what some shops ask.

Here is super simple drawing of what you need to build. You have fermenter, lid , lid has a hole for CIP ball, hose and pump

Hight of your exit valve at the fermenter sets the minimal cleaning solution level. You need to have a bit extra, so you do not pull air in to your pump on the right (that round thing).

All you need from the pump, is to pump enough so the interior walls and lid is constantly wet with PBW solution. Find the lowest setting/speed and let it circulate it for 30 min and you are done. It is not the pressure, that cleans the walls, its PBW.

I am probably going to build something like this because the exit valve diameter is relatively small compared to what the pump exit diameter.

I am thinking about using a clear 7-8 mm plastic for the lid, that can be attach to the fermenter. I am going to use dishwasher pump because those cost < 25 EUR and have enough power to circulate the cleaning solution. Problem is, those are not self brimming so I need to figure out how to fill the hose and get the circulation going before I leave it upright position. If the lid is attached, I can probably tilt the fermenter on it's side, start the pump and go from there.

I kept the pump below the water level in the tank because those are not self-priming pumps. Best I got out of one was 15 cm of above water level in the tank. This is not what I expected form 9W and 25W pumps. BTW, Braumeister 50 l has 9 w pump that looks almost exactly the same as those 2 pumps.

1) I used 20 mm hose IN and 20 mm OUT - nothing. I assumed the exit hose diameter is too wide. 2) I used 20 mm hose in and 10 mm tube out - nothing. All I got was about 15 cm above the water level in the tank.

I can't help.. but, pumps, generally, are very good at pushing liquids.. but, poor at pulling liquids. For instance, in deep wells, there are "never" pumps at the top.. they are always submersible. I'm guessing you may have a bubble or ??

Maybe a small sump pump from e.g. an aquarium might be an option? You just have to make sure the maximum liquid temperature, the Hmax and the flow rate in relation to the pump height. As the pump height increased the flow rate drops. And you still want a decent flow to be able to "squirt" the solution through the CIP ball.